The present invention relates to power transmission belts and methods for fabricating a power transmission belt.
Power transmission belts typically have a back surface marked with, for example, a manufacturer name or a product number. In the case of a power transmission belt wound on a flat pulley and having a back surface in contact with the flat pulley under use conditions, noise is generated due to a difference in level between a marked part of the back surface and a part thereof surrounding the marked part.
To solve the problem, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H08-152048 describes that during fabrication of a power transmission belt including an extension layer, a cord, and a compression layer, a mark material including a substrate which has been impregnated with a surface rubber composition and on which a mark of a printing rubber composition is printed is placed on at least one of the extension layer or the compression layer, and the substrate of the mark material and the belt surface are vulcanized so as to be connected together, resulting in that the belt has a flat surface.
To reduce the wearing away or loss of a mark, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-903 describes that during fabrication of a power transmission belt, a laminate including a mark printed with ink and a thermoplastic resin film placed on a printed surface of a member forming the belt surface is provided on a surface of a belt body corresponding to the belt back surface, the belt body and the laminate are connected together by vulcanization so that the thermoplastic resin film is bonded to the belt body by melting, and the mark is thus interposed between the belt body and the thermoplastic resin film.